Dynamo 2sday: Shootout heroics lead to first points at home
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
Houston Dynamo 2 earned their first home points of the 2023 season on Sunday night at SaberCats Stadium with a 4-1 penalty shootout win over LAFC 2 after playing to a 0-0 draw in regulation. Houston put out one of the strongest lineups that this team has used in its short existence (in my opinion). The Dos lineup was Andrew Tarbell; Djevencio van der Kust, Micael, Talen Maples, Mujeeb Murana; Diego Gonzalez, Juan Castilla, Charles Auguste; Jacob Evans, Roberto Avila, Papa N’Doye.
One reason for the strong lineup can be found in what coach Kenny Bundy shared with the media earlier in the week. “One of our key ideas and principles is we want to try and manage the first 15 minutes of chaos,” Bundy said. “No matter what league you're in, the first 15 minutes of any game is always chaos, teams are trying to figure it out. It takes time to settle into the game. We want, in the first 15 minutes, to manage the chaos but also really put pressure on the other team and create chances.”
This was the first time Dynamo 2 played LAFC 2, therefore the scouting a was little different. Bunday said that, like always, the mentality was to start strong and be able to get ahead first and control the game from that position. From there, it’s obviously a whole different ball game than starting down in a game. “Teaching a team to push and get a goal back is much easier than having a team up a goal and having to manage that,” Bundy told the media in his weekly press conference. “The problem I see is that we are only up one goal when we've done enough to be up multiple goals. One of the key ideas this week was needing to improve our chance creation.”
The match would start off with a shot by LAFC 2 in the first minute, in which Andrew Tarbell, the veteran goalkeeper who made his debut with (any team of) the club, made a good save. The first real chance for Dos came after a quick run from Avila down the middle, but LAFC goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat came off his line very well to block the shot and keep the game leveled going into the 29th minute of the match.
LAFC 2 responded quickly to that chance by Dynamo Dos. Talen Maples had a one-on-one with the forward and was able to stay up with him and show him the option to the outside. This gave the forward a challenge when taking a shot as his angle wasn’t the best. From that shot, the rebound landed at the feet of a LAFC player but Tarbell got down to save the second shot and keep the game leveled at 0.
In the 42nd minute there was a great build up play from Houston on the right side that ended in a cross from Diego Gonzalez to the top of the box, but N’Doye sent his shot well over. Dynamo Dos seemed to want it, making some good runs and good passes, but the finishing wasn’t there.
The first half would end up 0-0 coach Bundy later spoke about that first 45 minutes. “I think in the first half, the most important thing for us is that we were causing our own problems,” Bundy said. “We were missing simple passes. We were playing a bit too slow, and they’re really good with that first ball when they win it defensively and causing us problems. Halftime was a very interesting conversation with the guys. I just explained that the level and the standard is higher than that, and I was not happy with the first half performance. Then we talked about the details to fix it.”
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
Christopher Jaime would start off the second half for LAFC 2 with a shot in the 48th minute that went right over Tarbell’s cross bar. LAFC was trying to catch the guys in orange off guard from the get-go in the second half. Dynamo Dos would respond back with a shot on goal in the 64th minute, but Koleilat would control it without a problem. The match would progress quietly for long periods, but LAFC 2 would almost get the best of Houston in the 86th minute. Andrew Tarbell came up big on a double save to keep the match 0-0. The team would split a point and take the game to the penalty spot to determine who got a second point.
The penalty shootout would turn into a mini master class from the guys in orange; from Andrew Tarbell having two huge saves, to all the penalty takers executing almost to perfection on every shot taken. Academy player, Diego Gonzalez would start off with a strong shot to give the goalkeeper no chance. Secondly, Yair Gonzalez, the loanee from Argentinos Juniors, would almost duplicate Diego’s shot and put it in the back of the net. The third shot was a bomb from Paolo Rios. The fourth and final shot for Houston was a very delicate chip from the foot of Charles Auguste to finish off the match and give Houston Dynamo 2 that extra point and confidence boost from their first win at home.
“We have some very defined principles on how we want to execute a penalty shootout, and they did it perfectly,” Bundy said after the match. “Obviously, Andrew (Tarbell) making two saves, which in the huddle that’s what we thought he would do. That always helps. It’s nice to not play well and come away with two points.” Tarbell was pleased with his performance as well, saying afterwards, “It was a solid performance to get a result at home with the guys. That’s what matters. It was fun. It was my first game for the Dynamo and Dynamo 2. I enjoyed it a lot. It was great. It was great to get some points.”
The next match is another home game and a very difficult one, as Dynamo 2 host Tacoma Defiance, who eliminated Houston from the MLS NEXT Pro playoffs last season. The game is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 23rd at 6:30 PM at SaberCats Stadium. We hope everyone can come out and support the Dos since it’s going to be a very entertaining and fun match. And as always, VAMOS LOS PIBES!!! HOUSTON CONTRA TODOS!!!
